Preview | India, England hope to clinch series in Leeds

Leeds: After the two on-sided ODIs won by India and England, respectively, both the teams would be longing to clinch the three-match series when they meet at the Headingley Cricket ground here on Tuesday.

England levelled the three match series with a convincing 86-run victory at Lord’s, having been comprehensively beaten in the opening match at Trent Bridge by eight wickets.

After first ODI victory, India made couple of mistakes in the second match. First the bowlers leaked few extra runs on full-toss deliveries which helped England post a challenging total and then batsmen failed to rise to the occasion.

Apart from Suresh Raina and skipper Virat Kohli no other batsman could face English bowlers perfectly. Wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Shikhar Dhawan, however, got the good starts but could not utilise it.

Middle-order batsmen Lokesh Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya also drastically failed. So, in order to give English bowlers tough times in the middle, Indian batting line-up must click in unison.

In the bowling department, Kuldeep was the only wicket-taker. He scalped three wickets but gave away 68 runs in his 10 overs. Pacers Umesh Yadav, Hardik and debutant Sidharth Kaul were also costly. Bowlers now have to come up with something new to disturb the opponents as Root, Morgan, Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow have already come in form.

England, on the other hand, learned quickly from a poor display in the first match and especially against chinaman Kuldeep, who claimed 6 for 25 without conceding a single boundary. Joe Root and skipper Eoin Morgan also came in form with the brilliant knocks of 113 and 53, respectively.

Jason Roy and Bairstow displayed the glimpses of coming back in form with disciplined batting throughout their innings. So the top-order seemed settled the only worry of the hosts is their middle and lower order. Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali could not add much to the score after a brilliant start. If the trio clicked in the final match then it could be a difficult task for the Indian batsmen.

England has improved a lot in the bowling department. Bowlers are hunting in pairs. Pacers Liam Plunkett and David Willey combining well while Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali and Mark Wood supporting the duo handsomely. There bowling economy is not above six which is a good sign for English players especially when the opponent team is chasing the target.

Skipper Morgan had not used Stokes much in the second ODI. So in the upcoming match, Morgan, who has the penalty of options in the bowling department, mat try all his bowlers to their potential to get the positive result.